Hoping these kids are OK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard a confirmation of the HS these kids were from?

They are mostly Marshall students. One at Longfellow.

At least one from Mclean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A carpool for early morning swim practice occurred to me too. Perhaps only the driver was impaired?

Alcohol after early morning swim practice? What?

The passengers weren't wearing seatbelts, which to me suggests some level of impairment.

When I was a teenager back in the mean old 80s, very few of my classmates wore seatbelts voluntarily. I was a bit of a nerd about it, always have been since the PSAs of the 80s about seatbelts - I drove my whole family crazy until nobody even tried to drive me anywhere without a belt on.

I think you must be out of touch because it is still very commonplace for young people to eschew seatbelts. It is reflective of some kind of impairment, but not necessarily alcohol or drugs. Too many kids just can't make the connection that they are mortal and breakable.

Not really. Most teens wear seatbelts. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but the teens I'm around wear them. I know two who don't.

Most teens normally wear seatbelts. Teens that are drunk and cruising around at 5am on a school day are probably in the less likely cohort.

There were also 4 kids in the back seat so not enough seatbelts even if they wanted to wear one.
Driver was smart enough to wear a seatbelt but not smart enough to not drink and drive or speed.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't it always seem like when there is a drunk driving accident, the driver is the one who walks away and the passengers are always the ones who end up being thrown or dead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baffling story. Six or more teens, age 14-17 (friends? family members?) in one car, driving at 6 am Monday morning, alcohol involved. Had they been up all night? Or started drinking first thing in the morning? So confused.

It is not that baffling at all. Teens do dumb things.

...but not generally at 5:00am on a Monday morning. It's a battle getting mine awake and out of bed by 7:00 let alone two hours earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't it always seem like when there is a drunk driving accident, the driver is the one who walks away and the passengers are always the ones who end up being thrown or dead?

In this case, seatbelts save lives.

[Anonymous]

The 17 yr old driver -- if he has an actual driver's license -- must have obtained that license very recently... recently enough that he surely remembers that it isn't legal for him to be driving with more than ONE other teen in the car.

I wonder what the parents (of all the kids) knew about where their kids were and what the transportation arrangement was. Seems like the 17 yr old driver and all the parents dropped the ball in letting so many ride with him (even if he was sober!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A carpool for early morning swim practice occurred to me too. Perhaps only the driver was impaired?

I also thought swim practice. The timing works and it would explain the different ages in the car. Maybe the driver was still drunk from the night before and didn't realize it?

They were not coming from swim practice.

You know this or you're guessing?

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure how many are from McLean - but just got this letter from the McLean Principal:

Dear McLean Community,

Early this morning, we were made aware of a vehicle accident that involved one of our students and six others from a nearby school. At this time, we are still gathering details and are waiting for news of those who are at the hospital.

Students are slowly hearing the names of the teens who were involved. We have a crisis team of psychologists and social workers, along with our counselors, available to provide support. We will be sharing more details when we are able. If your child is in need of support right now, please have them come to Student Services or let us know and we will seek them out.

If you or your child needs support after hours, FCPS has the support of the CrisisLink Regional Hotline at 703-527-4077 or text “NEEDHELP” to 85511.



On behalf of all members of our school faculty and staff, our thoughts are with family and friends during this difficult time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 17 yr old driver -- if he has an actual driver's license -- must have obtained that license very recently... recently enough that he surely remembers that it isn't legal for him to be driving with more than ONE other teen in the car.

I wonder what the parents (of all the kids) knew about where their kids were and what the transportation arrangement was. Seems like the 17 yr old driver and all the parents dropped the ball in letting so many ride with him (even if he was sober!).

Maybe they didn't know? Party Sunday night. Kids pass out. Wake up panicked and need to get home. All pile into car not thinking of rules.

[Anonymous]

All of the parents on this forum who love to say "It's not a big deal for teenagers to drink underage" are silent on this thread. These are the consequences of enabling and encouraging alcohol with the teenage set. It's not a low-stakes game to play and I hope you parents who turn a blind eye can wake up and stop the enabling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure how many are from McLean - but just got this letter from the McLean Principal:

Dear McLean Community,

Early this morning, we were made aware of a vehicle accident that involved one of our students and six others from a nearby school. At this time, we are still gathering details and are waiting for news of those who are at the hospital.

Students are slowly hearing the names of the teens who were involved. We have a crisis team of psychologists and social workers, along with our counselors, available to provide support. We will be sharing more details when we are able. If your child is in need of support right now, please have them come to Student Services or let us know and we will seek them out.

If you or your child needs support after hours, FCPS has the support of the CrisisLink Regional Hotline at 703-527-4077 or text “NEEDHELP” to 85511.



On behalf of all members of our school faculty and staff, our thoughts are with family and friends during this difficult time.

This is the exact same message that went out to Longfellow except it said "six others from nearby schools" instead of "a nearby school". Either this is a typo or the Longfellow message was a mistake... I'm sure it wasn't 1 kid from McLean and 6 from Longfellow.

I'm a Longfellow parent and I guess I am naive but I keep wondering WTF a middle school kid was doing joy riding at 6 am. It's so, so sad.

[Anonymous]

Practical question about insurance here:

If the teen's parents have insurance, aren't the maximums per accident usually something like $1mil. If so, and there are 5 kids who are seriously injured -- how does that work with the insurance? The insurance pays up to $1mil in claims, and then ....? The parents of the 5 who are injured (or worse) sue the parent of the driver? Could the parents have a verdict against them for several million (i.e. the injured teens need long term care)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A carpool for early morning swim practice occurred to me too. Perhaps only the driver was impaired?

I also thought swim practice. The timing works and it would explain the different ages in the car. Maybe the driver was still drunk from the night before and didn't realize it?

They were not coming from swim practice.

You know this or you're guessing?

Swim practice starts at 430 or 5am maybe going, but definitely not coming from. With practice that early no kids is getting up even earlier to pick up 6 friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the parents on this forum who love to say "It's not a big deal for teenagers to drink underage" are silent on this thread. These are the consequences of enabling and encouraging alcohol with the teenage set. It's not a low-stakes game to play and I hope you parents who turn a blind eye can wake up and stop the enabling.

I mean you do you but I know my 17yo drinks and we have drilled it into her head to never drive drunk or call us when she needs a ride. She has done this and I’m glad. She’s going to college in the fall and I want this to be non negotiable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course they aren’t ok. They were thrown from a car.

Teens are resilient. I also hope they are ok or will recover.

The driver is going to jail for a long time